tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57706652015-06-16T22:46:40.985-05:00What Are You Looking At?My blog. And what are you looking at?Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03957203396555442465noreply@blogger.comBlogger718125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5770665.post-67525178156517797752011-02-22T17:24:00.000-06:002011-02-22T17:24:45.827-06:00Always Timely . . .Well, now Libya has decided to do the revolution rock, and we are all left in a quandary that we haven't faced in years. What is the dude's name who runs the country (or parts at this point)? I know. Who is on first. What is on second. Apparently the Colonel of Libya is playing short-center field.
Anyway, the Christian Science Monitor, a blogger at ABC News, and the Straight Dope have all Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03957203396555442465noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5770665.post-47293657439272322182011-02-09T17:51:00.001-06:002011-02-22T17:25:27.146-06:00My Other Other BlogI recently started another new blog. It is here, and we'll see how it goes. WAYLA is not dead, just focused a little more, perhaps.Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03957203396555442465noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5770665.post-50469633734072376882010-11-13T21:46:00.003-06:002010-11-13T22:23:16.235-06:00The Law as Less of an AssEveryone knows anecdotes about the law not working. Hot coffee is perhaps the most common example people like to cite. Still, sometimes the law does work. At least if we use it.For instance, the Sun-Times reported that for years the City of Chicago had taken the position that it did not want to go to trial where Chicago police officers were accused of brutality. This meant that millions were paidDavidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03957203396555442465noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5770665.post-90995519929202442892010-10-22T23:08:00.002-05:002010-10-22T23:24:22.965-05:00The Twitter ExperimentI have been tweeting for a few months now. I had a specific plan when I started tweeting, but I now see the problem. See, I was going to post quotes from public transportation ads. Why? I dunno. It reads well. Sort of fun. The problem? They don't change the ads on the el or bus very often. See, I have posted essentially all of the ads I see.Who would have thought that would happen? I mean, it Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03957203396555442465noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5770665.post-28269601459385790402010-10-18T22:25:00.002-05:002010-10-18T23:04:51.160-05:00Things I Think I ThinkI was just watching the Yankees and Rangers. In the top of the 9th inning the Rangers played death by a thousand cuts. I think they hit one ball hard, but scored four runs. A few things. First, is there some reason that ARod did not dive for Nelson Cruz's single in the ninth? Because keeping that ball in the infield would have kept the runner on second. Why didn't Jeter try to knock Molina's ballDavidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03957203396555442465noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5770665.post-73852297437487646782010-10-05T22:46:00.003-05:002010-10-05T23:54:47.672-05:00Deutschland 2010October 3 was German (re)unification day. It has been 20 years since the German Democratic Republic and the Federal Republic of Germany went from being two countries that never existed before World War II to being one "reunified" country that never existed before 1990. I am not sure what the state of mind in Germany was for this anniversary (they don't tend to exhibit 4th of July-style bombast), Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03957203396555442465noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5770665.post-43422562779173027652010-10-05T11:20:00.006-05:002010-10-05T11:42:37.054-05:00The New "Wayne"There are people who have compiled lists of criminals with "Wayne" in their name. The lists do not even include Lil Wayne, Pauline Wayne, or Taylor Wane.In the Chicagoland area in looks as if we there is a different trend. On October 4, 2010 the Chicago Tribune reported that 53 year old Ruben Rodriguez was arrested for weapon and drug violations after police were called because Mr. Rodriguez Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03957203396555442465noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5770665.post-86208834273884427852010-09-29T22:41:00.001-05:002010-09-29T22:41:51.083-05:00TwitterSo, I have started tweeting, and I kind of enjoy the poetry inherent in my tweets. I also found several people that I am following. That being said, I am still not sure why people are so enthusiastic about Twitter.As a general matter, the people I follow mostly just tell me when they have posted something on the Internet. Kind of the reverse of this post. That's fine, but isn't that just an RSS Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03957203396555442465noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5770665.post-90514979315020784702010-09-27T21:19:00.001-05:002010-09-27T21:19:45.257-05:00PLAY FREEBIRD MAN!The New York Times reported that Leonard Skinner died in Florida. He was 77, and a former high school gym teacher who did not appreciate long hair on boys. He taught at Robert E. Lee high school, by the way. The North won the civil war, right? Anyway, some of those boys would eventually immortalize Mr. Skinner as Lynryd Skynyrd. I am not a big Southern Rock guy, but that's cool.Here's hoping Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03957203396555442465noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5770665.post-71910605095705939512010-08-27T23:27:00.002-05:002010-08-28T00:51:16.993-05:00Diverse, Diverse IndiaI have been writing a lot about China lately, but Asia has two billion-person behemoth countries, not one. Maybe it is time to even that score up just a little. After all, it isn't just that India has a bunch of languages. India has significant speakers in four major language families. Twenty-nine languages are spoken by a million or more people. That's crazy.Anyway, India was also an English Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03957203396555442465noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5770665.post-42750410472846651772010-08-24T21:04:00.003-05:002010-08-25T11:01:25.870-05:00Maybe I Don't Want To Chinese After AllA few weeks ago I blogged about China. Actually, I "tied together" two totally unrelated items that both had "China" in the name and pretended it was a coherent post. It's what I do.Anyway, in retrospect I have decided that I don't want to be Chinese after all. Let me explain. Last week L was in Urbana-Champaign for a few days. On the way down she got caught in this. Because we live in America, Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03957203396555442465noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5770665.post-45710937283177273252010-08-13T23:33:00.002-05:002010-08-13T23:58:45.399-05:00And So It Might BeginI have been thoroughly unconvinced about Twitter. What little I had seen of it consisted mostly of the types of posts some my middle-aged friends posted in their early Facebook statuses . "At the store," "feeling tired," or "waiting for the L." Frankly, I could not understand why I would ever want to follow these people. I did not get it.Notwithstanding not getting it, I keep giving Twitter more Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03957203396555442465noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5770665.post-20272475048122417102010-07-30T23:55:00.002-05:002010-07-31T00:54:54.399-05:00Can't We All Just be Chinese?You may know that there is a guy who claims that the Chinese came to North America in 1421. Certainly there are people who disagree with him, but it is an intriguing notion. I mean, had the Chinese had colonial designs in North America (as opposed to "Greater China," but more on that later), maybe we would all be Chinese now.Speaking of Chinese colonialism, the Economist had an interesting Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03957203396555442465noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5770665.post-65822129761310600972010-07-19T20:47:00.002-05:002010-07-19T21:34:37.967-05:00The Buffeted Outre FrenchThe French have an interesting relationship with the French-speaking world. Thankfully, they have not followed the German example of the interwar (actually interwar plus, you know, the entire Hitler regime) period of gathering all of their linguistic compatriots under one polity. However, they do have the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie, which is sort of funky. However, two Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03957203396555442465noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5770665.post-30077432907376929772010-06-19T23:51:00.003-05:002010-06-20T00:51:02.492-05:00Trains and MapsTrains are one of U's obsessions. In fact, transportation in general is an obsession of his. I like trains just fine, but I really like maps. When trains and maps come together, it is game on in our house. We already have this book that we sometimes flip through.n We are always on the lookout for more information.There are a few basic models for classic transit maps. Some of the biggest transit Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03957203396555442465noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5770665.post-82552806725267126532010-06-07T22:40:00.002-05:002010-06-07T23:05:01.617-05:00Walking the TightropeI saw an article about a man who was a professor at my law school when I was a student there. I did not take any of his classes, since he had a reputation, deserved or not, of being a grade point killer and relatively unpleasant as a professor. I say again, that was all reputation, which may or may not have been deserved. Although, I think it probably was.Anyway, if you read the article, it seemsDavidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03957203396555442465noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5770665.post-55969185664345710612010-06-07T21:49:00.002-05:002010-06-07T22:37:28.644-05:00Does Helen Thomas Know About This?I won't rehash the Helen Thomas debacle. Her theory that Jews should leave Palastine and "return"to their "real" countries (e.g. Germany, Poland, and the United States) is . . . interesting. Interesting that she expressed it to a rabbi with a video camera. I guess it is safe to say that she is either off her meds, or didn't recognize why people would find that offensive.Except. Except that the Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03957203396555442465noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5770665.post-45417824407965324992010-05-26T12:23:00.002-05:002010-05-26T12:44:11.129-05:00The Tunnels Below Our FeetHere's another obsession. There are secrets below us. Secret tunnels. Well, not usually "secret" but unknown to most of us. In Chicago we all know about the old small gauge rail network that was used to deliver coal and the like to buildings. We know about this from the Great Chicago Flood of 1992. It is not open to the public, but it is a pretty cool thing.Apparently in New York there may (or Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03957203396555442465noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5770665.post-22274210527818479932010-05-21T06:30:00.001-05:002010-05-21T06:30:42.135-05:00Worst Euro Insult of Bush Yet￼We all know that the Europeans did not like G.W. Bush. However, left wing German politician Joschka Fischer, while seemingly complimenting Bush may have said the most insulting thing EVER in today's New York Times:"We Germans, we love principles," he said. "Principles are fine, but in the moment of crisis even George W. Bush transformed himself into an American Lenin and nearly nationalized Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03957203396555442465noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5770665.post-68389193290508260372010-05-18T22:37:00.004-05:002010-05-18T23:32:49.347-05:00Jus SanguinisIt turns out that a Dutchman is not a Dutchman when his family has been gone for three hundred years, and have been citizens of the British Empire and (at least) two different states in South Africa. What, you may ask, am I talking about?Well, the Monitor reports that there is a smallish group of Afrikaaners seeking status as refugees and/or Dutch citizenship. They are afraid that South Africa Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03957203396555442465noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5770665.post-6567177702432626322010-05-17T12:07:00.003-05:002010-05-17T12:10:01.214-05:00A Party?!?Today on my way to work I stepped up the curb in front of my building and noticed . . . an open condom wrapper and a cigarette in the gutter. I thought, "someone had a party."Then, and I am not making this up, a guy got out of a cab behind me. He was wearing a shiny silver shirt and was carrying silver bowling pins. And I continue to not make this up, he walked across Columbus WHILE JUGGLING, gotDavidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03957203396555442465noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5770665.post-2066992696101981852010-05-06T22:48:00.005-05:002010-10-03T22:10:06.190-05:00The LawrelToday I got to go past the Lawrel at Lawrence and Elston. There's a picture on the foto blog. Since I posted about this naming convention I have had suggestions pouring in. I guess what interests me is where the name is derived from the streets, but that is not painfully obvious. The Belford rocks because of the history. The Lawrel and Elmont are cool. Golf Mill shopping center at Golf and Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03957203396555442465noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5770665.post-46454158887936617832010-05-03T10:51:00.001-05:002010-05-03T10:53:30.925-05:00ANOTHER OBSESSIONFor some odd reason L does not enjoy Sunny as much as I do. Really though, I just find Charlie unbearably funny and the rest of the show fine.Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03957203396555442465noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5770665.post-7515436576400362162010-04-30T22:11:00.002-05:002010-05-03T10:06:47.552-05:00CHICAGO NAMING CONVENTIONI posted two new pictures on the foto page. One is of a bar called the Belford. It's at Pulaski and Belmont in the city. Seems like a nothing name until you recollect that Pulaski was called Crawford in Chicago until the 1950s (or 1960s, pending the litigation). The second picture is of the El-Mont (telephone MULberry-1666) at Elston and Montrose.This is actually a prettyDavidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03957203396555442465noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5770665.post-14600177876623031612010-04-23T23:10:00.001-05:002010-04-23T23:10:21.073-05:00FACEBOOK THOUGHTSFacebook is an interesting animal. I have been on for a while, and feel like I "get" how it works. A few realities: the two biggest groups of "friends" I have are family and high school friends. The third largest group is grade school friends. This is not a "normal" distribution of my friends and relations.It turns out that even with regard to the school friends the people I am Facebook "close" Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03957203396555442465noreply@blogger.com2